Associate Professor Michael Robertson

MBBS (Hons) FRANZCP PhD

Psychiatrist

A/Prof Michael Robertson has been working in the field of psychiatry for over 25 years, with a current clinical focus in occupational psychiatry and civil forensic psychiatry. Michael is an approved medical specialist for the NSW worker’s compensation commission as well as an appointed Dispute Resolution Services Decision Maker for SIRA (State Insurance Regulatory Authority). With an interest in ethics, Michael is a committee member for the special interest group in history, philosophy and ethics of psychiatry (SIGHPEP), of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP).

With two decades of clinical experience in acute adult and community psychiatry, A/Prof Michael Robertson was head of the department of psychiatry at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.

As a Clinical Associate Professor of mental health and ethics at the University of Sydney, Michael is also a visiting fellow at the Sydney Jewish Museum. He is currently conducting a research program with three colleagues addressing the Holocaust and the National Socialist period in Germany (1933-45). Michael has undertaken a number of other research projects throughout his career, completing his PhD in the area of psychiatric ethics and traumatic stress and having publications within the area of psychological trauma, philosophy and psychiatry.ice for survivors of psychological trauma.

As one of our resident consultant psychiatrists, Michael has been heavily involved in our launch of telehealth appointments, supported by RANZCP. These are appointments conducted online as opposed to the usual face-to-face consults, and help facilitate more rural areas while allowing claimants to conduct the appointment from the comfort of their own home or a local clinic. As an avid traveller, Michael is always available for a telehealth appointment while abroad.

A/Prof Michael Robertson is available in a multitude of locations nation-wide, including Sydney, Newcastle, Wollongong, Canberra, Brisbane, Gold Coast and Hobart. For more rural or alternate locations he is readily available for telehealth appointments. Michael has a special interest in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders (PTSDs), psychological trauma and ageing, and involuntary psychiatric treatment.

The terms “stress” and “trauma” have become ubiquitous in the workplace. Many medical certificates describe a patient’s problem as a “stress” reaction or a “post-traumatic” reaction, yet such terms carry no significance in legal frameworks. The working definition of “stress” is of the overwhelming of an individual by an environmental challenge. Life is full of such challenges and so all of us can legitimately claim to be “stressed.”

The definition of “trauma” is more complicated. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental...click here to read more